Help me choose z97 please :)

Hello Tek syndicates,

I'm upgrading my current build to z97 intel i7 4790k and I will get a deal from microcenter, bundle one.

So I'm in dilemma: Asus z97 AR vs Gigabyte gaming 7.

I'll be using Phanteks double tower 140mm cooler, big one, don't remember full name :P

Please advise. Thanks

I would get the Asus board. Just because I really like Asus UEFI, and their build quality.

Running a Z97-Pro Gamer board with the same processor for a week now. Only thing I've found is the sata connectors are under the graphics card (ok I chose which slots to use for that). So any sata connectors... put the in before the graphics card or it's a pain. I went for lowish ram too as my cooler is fairly big (only single fan.

Don't have experience of Gigabyte boards but the Asus bios does seem pretty good to me.

Thanks. I'm kinda leaned towards gigabyte. Asus is cheaper, and it has good OCability, but giga has also good oc and it looks better, has that led audio, all the physical switches and whatnot... Any other advices anyone?

I have now giga 990xa ud3 and fx8320... the board is pretty good, never failed me.

I would recommend an Asus board as well. I just upgraded to a very similar system as you. This one is very similar to your AR board, but has USB 3.1 support. ASUS Z97-A/USB 3.1

I've been using the Gigabyte Gaming 5 motherboard (model below the 7) for about a week now and so far it's been going well. Lots of overclocking options within the UEFI and the ability to set fan curves or profiles for your CPU/system fans.

Plus it looks pretty damn nice.

The only thing I don't like is the Gaming 5 is more narrow than a standard ATX board but you won't have that issue with the 7